October 20, 2004
Press Release

Minnesota DNR - News Releases

DNR PRIM maps are a good resource for hunters

The hunt for public hunting lands is made easier with Public Recreation Information Maps (PRIM) from the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR).

The 51 different maps encompass all of Minnesota. They include a great deal of public ownership data, including federal, state and county lands. All maps have been updated within the last four years to provide hunters with the most current information for planning hunts.

Deer hunters may find good places to hunt in the wildlife management areas (WMAs), state forests and other public lands around the state.

Duck hunters may find it useful to know where the WMAs and wildlife lakes are located and where they can put in their watercraft.

Each map displays parks, forests, scientific and natural areas, waterfowl production areas and wildlife management areas. In addition, each map shows facilities such as state trails, fishing piers, campgrounds, historic sites and more.

PRIM maps are available from the DNR Gift Shop at 500 Lafayette Road, St. Paul; Minnesota's Bookstore, 660 Olive St., St. Paul; and several sporting goods and map stores around the state. They can be purchased online at www.minnesotasbookstore.com. Maps are $4.95 each, plus tax.

The DNR advises hunters to be aware of private property when they are looking into a new hunting area, and to always ask first before hunting on private property.

Additional suspects sentenced for damages to state forest wetland

Two more men received jail time and additional fines for driving off-road vehicles in a state forest last year and heavily damaging wetlands.

Mitchell Dean Buss, 22, Aitkin, and Joseph Paul Bednarczyk, 24, pleaded guilty recently in Crow Wing County District Court to misdemeanors after being charged with operating an off-road vehicle without a registration and riding off trails at Flanders Lake near Crosby.

Each was fined $995, placed on one-year probation and sentenced to 20 days in jail. Their sentences were stayed for 60 additional days on the condition that they served their jail time, paid their fines, and not have the same or similar violations for one year. The fines were in addition to the $1,222 civil penalty/restitution that was already issued in the incident on Sept. 27, 2003.

The charges stemmed from some duck hunters videotaping mud truckers repeatedly driving through the lakebed and around the lakeshore area of Flanders Lake in the Crow Wing State Forest during last year's duck opener. Estimated damage to the wetlands was $4,000.

An investigation by a DNR conservation officer indicated that Buss and Bednarczyk, along with Anthony Portz, 25, Riverton, and Joseph Bosaaen, 20, Deerwood, were involved in the incident. Portz and Bosaaen were sentenced earlier this year to 30 days in jail and ordered to each pay $645 in fines in addition to approximately $1,200 in civil fines and restitution.

In 2003, the Minnesota Legislature passed a law restricting off-road vehicle use in wetlands such as shallow and deep marshes, shallow open water and bogs. The law requires violators to pay restitution for damage to wetlands on both private and public lands.

State land for sale on Nov. 1, 3, 8

The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) will offer 10 parcels of state land for sale to the public at oral auctions on Nov. 1, 3 and 8.

The properties to be offered for sale include the DNR's former Enforcement Division storage building in Duluth, a platted lot near Fall Lake in the Ely area, an outlot on Lake Leander north of Buhl, woodlands in Goodhue County, and rural sites in Hubbard, Itasca, Pennington and St. Louis counties.

All properties are sold "as is." Property data sheets are available for all parcels from the DNR, containing exact locations, minimum bids, date and location of auction for that property, site description and property condition.

Prospective bidders are urged by the DNR to obtain full information on properties and sale conditions prior to an auction. No properties offered at oral auction will be sold for less than the minimum bid identified for each property, unless stated otherwise on the property data sheet. The minimum bid consists of the appraised value of the land and any improvements, the timber value and sale costs.

For more information about the properties, call the DNR at (651) 297-5982 or toll free at 1-888-MINNDNR (646-6367), or request information by email at landsale@dnr.state.mn.us. Land sale information is also on the DNR Web site at www.dnr.state.mn.us.

ORAL AUCTION PROPERTIES

Property B: 40 acres near Wilton, Beltrami County; suitable for recreation or residence.

Property C: 40 acres near Wilton, Beltrami County; suitable for recreation or residence.

Property I: 3.70 acre lot located 6.5 miles northeast of Ely, Lake County; suitable for residence.

Property L: 29.88 acres 7 miles southeast of Red Wing, Goodhue County; suitable for agriculture or residence.

Property M: 0.75 acre located 27 miles north of Grand Rapids, Itasca County; add-on property.

Property N: former DNR Enforcement storage building in Duluth, St. Louis County; suitable for business.

Property O: Outlot on Lake Leander located 12 miles north of Buhl, St. Louis County; suitable as add-on or recreational property.

Property P: 8.04 acres located 4 miles south of Goodridge, Pennington County; suitable for agriculture.

Property Q: 2.70 acres located 1 mile west of Bassett, St. Louis County; add-on property.

Property R: 1.89 acres located 8.5 miles northwest of Nevis, Hubbard County; add-on property.